Monday, September 30, 2013

On Friday, the Reverend Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General
Assembly, joined with 33 other leaders of faith denominations and organizations
to urge Congress duly to enact a budget that will keep our government running
into the new fiscal year. They wrote:

"Our democracy rests on principles of reason, compromise, and
a commitment to the common good. To hold our governance processes and financial
credibility hostage to narrow priorities is not only dangerous to the nation’s
near-term financial well-being, it threatens the very foundations of our
democratic process and our capacity to live united in community."

Parsons continued in a
separate comment:

"It is time to stop playing politics with people's
wellbeing.It is the genius of our
democracy that no one political ideology should determine the agenda of a
nation, nor should those relying on government programs or the full faith and
credit of the U.S. Treasury be held hostage.It is time for everyone, citizens and elected officials, to engage in
good faith in the difficult and challenging work of government."

The complete text of the letter from Religious
Leaders follows:

September 27, 2013

Dear Senator/Representative:

As leaders of faith communities and organizations comprising
millions of people from all walks of life across our nation, we are deeply
concerned by the completely avoidable budget and financial crises we are fast
approaching as a nation.

Though Congress must pass the federal budget,
it belongs to every American.This common
fund formed of our combined tax revenues is designed to support the shared
infrastructure, well-being, and long-term ethical values of our society.As people of faith we find it morally
irresponsible to blockade the process by which we provide for our nation’s
shared needs in a bid to force any
individual legislative priority.

It would likewise be reckless to propel the United States into
financial default by refusing to raise the debt ceiling for spending that
Congress has already approved. Shuttering
the federal government or defaulting on the nation’s financial commitments is
likely to reverse our fragile economic recovery, punish the middle class, and
deeply harm our most vulnerable neighbors.

Our democracy rests on principles of reason, compromise, and a
commitment to the common good.To hold
our governance processes and financial credibility hostage to narrow priorities
is not only dangerous to the nation’s near-term financial well-being, it
threatens the very foundations of our democratic process and our capacity to
live united in community.

We ask that lawmakers address their concerns through the proper
legislative channels. It ill serves our nation and people to stand in the way
of funding federal operations or raising the debt ceiling in an effort to block
implementation of health care legislation that Congress duly enacted.We ask that congressional leadership of both
parties stand strong in opposing efforts to allow the will of the few to
threaten the common good.

We commit to keeping you in prayer, asking that God continue to
give you wisdom as you faithfully serve our nation during this time when the
country most needs your principled leadership.

About Me

The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness is the public policy information and advocacy office of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Its task is to advocate, and help the church to advocate, the social witness perspectives and policies of the Presbyterian General Assembly. The church has a long history of applying these biblically and theologically-based insights to issues that affect the public — maintaining a public policy ministry in the nation's capital since 1946.
Reformed theology teaches that because a sovereign God is at work in all the world, the church and Christian citizens should be concerned about public policy. In addition, Presbyterian forefather John Calvin wrote, "Civil magistry is a calling not only holy and legitimate, but by far the most sacred and honorable in human life."